Hello, I am having a very hard time deciding which synth out of these 2 is a better one or would work better for me. I am very new to synthesizers and have little or no experience, however I have been doing much research and I think I have narrowed down my list to the Roland D-50 or the Juno-106.Which one is a better synth overall?? Better sound and capabilities? And one good for someone starting out who's goal is to master the old school synth? Like I said I am very new to this but I really want a good synth capable of synth-pop/electronica and is able to recreate 80's/70's sounds without sounding like a cheesy video-game. Thank you.

If you're wanting to go for old-school synthesis then the juno is your best bet out of the two. It's got some limitations but that also makes it easy to learn, plus it sounds good. More 80's than 70's in my experience.

The D-50 is THE synth sound of 1987, if you like pop music from that time it's could be the one for you. It provided a lot of those leads and pads that sounded so new at the time. It's not good at all for bass though. Programming is impossible (IMHO) without a software editor and even then it's a pain. That's probably why it's so recognisable, the factory presets were used a lot.

I'd say the 106 sounds more like 1982-86 (I know it wasn't around in 82, but the juno 6 was) it's difficult to single it out on recordings, because it's so easy to programme and because there were other synths that could make similar sounds. It could also be said that it' was (one of) the sounds of 90s electronic/techno etc., when it made a big comeback. It does those bass and screaming lots of resonance lead sounds quite well.

I have both and all though I'm somewhat fond of the D-50, I'd choose the 106.

Try an Alpha Juno. More refined than the 106 (sometimes reminded me of a simpler analog D-50 when D-50 was doing analog style sounds). Great little synth and you can plug a midi box in to program it fully hands on.

D-50 is more advanced and creates great sounds but you have to work away from PCM to not sound as obvious/dated - use the pure synth modes (struct 1/2). Alpha juno would be a nice compromise between the two.

Also a JD-800 is a joy to program and sounds amazing. Not as warm or alive as D-50 but what a filter!

might be a bit late, but, Roland Junos are cheap and cheerful synths designed for the beginner, or those with a modest budget - they sound good, they're easy to program, and you will learn all the basics. In contrast, the D-50 was a flagship synth, designed for the power user - in 1987 the pitch was a D-50 could replace your DX-7, your analog poly, and take the load of your 8/12 bit sampler. If you get a D-50, you'll find that you can copy all the sounds of a Juno (albeit in a digital kind of way), but if you get a Juno, you can't copy all the sounds of a D-50. The Junos are much more immediate, and for all their limitations, are good little synths, and you'll be able to tweak away from the very start. Of course you could get a PG-1000 ( or similar) for the D-50 for the immediacy of knobs and sliders, but the synth engine is more complex, and if you don't have any prior experience with subtractive synthesis, the D-50 could be daunting. Without a programmer box, the D-50 uses what used to be called "Digital Parameter Access", that is, one parameter at a time editing. Coming from that era, I'm used to it, but some find it a bit tedious and counter-productive. I think either is a good choice, and which ever one you chose (or choose) you'll have for a long time.